Hi everyone --
Tim Rodenkirk raised some good points in his posting this morning that I too
had been thinking about in recent weeks and that should be emphasized before
too much more time goes by.....
While we don't yet know whether the Black-vented Shearwater incursion will be a
one-time event in our lifetimes or whether it will become the new normal in a
world altered by climate change, either way this fall's shearwaters will need
to be documented properly so that they can be entered into the official state
record via the review process of the Oregon Bird Records Committee. There are
currently only 5 accepted records of this species ever for Oregon, whereas this
fall there have been dozens of reports of many many birds. In order to get
those reports properly into the record, observers should submit their
observations to the OBRC (http://www.orbirds.org/obrc.html) by the standard
process described here: http://www.orbirds.org/rarebird.html
As Tim notes, one should be cautious about separating Black-vented from Manx
when views are distant and poor (or even when they're close and good, for that
matter!). Flocks of multiple birds together most likely indicate Black-vented,
as they are abundant far to the south and often travel in flocks, whereas Manx
are rare throughout the Pacific and thus almost always seen singly.
As Tim notes, the OBRC removed Manx Shearwater from the review list in 2012,
and is no longer reviewing "Manx-type" Shearwaters unidentified to species,
either. But if you have seen Black-vented Shearwaters this fall and feel
confident in your observations, please do write them up asap and send the
details in in a report to the OBRC.
Thanks very much!
Jay Withgott
OBRC member
Black-vented-less so far
From: Tim Rodenkirk <timrodenkirk@xxxxxxxxx>
Date: Mon, 2 Nov 2015 04:35:30 -0800
...
I was compiling some of the south coast field note data yesterday and was
amazed at the number of BV Shearwater observations in Coos/Curry this
fall. Most years we have a few Manx Shearwater observations- I haven't
seen any this fall. OBRC took them off the review list because they are so
regular. Anyhow, seeing tens of small white-bellied shearwaters at one
time lately makes one pretty sure they are likely Black-venteds. But a
single observation of a distant bird could be either (you can't tell vent
color when they are way out). Wonder how OBRC will handle it? I say this
as I have seen some Black-venteds close with what appeared to be dark vents
and many more that were well, way out but likely that species. Should be a
fun one for OBRC although I imagine not everyone sends in reports.
...
